Just stumbled across a case of censorship at my local library.

[AngryOldDem]

I was referencing in another post here David Corn’s “American Psychosis” (excellent read, BTW, about the fringe elements of the GOP, going back to the Antebellum era), which I checked out of my library as a “New” book not a month ago. I wanted to recheck the title, so I got on my library’s website and did a search.

The book is no longer on the shelf. It’s gone. Disappeared. Never existed. It’s no longer in the catalog.

I accessed the minutes of the latest meeting of the board of trustees, to see if there was any discussion about book removals. There wasn’t, but there were nine agenda items about putting more Christian materials on the shelves, along with making other Christian-based stuff more accessible. This is a public library.

The board of trustees has been taken over by some extreme Right elements, but that has only just happened. They are certainly not wasting any time in purging “harmful” material, evidently.

Trust me, I am now following this closely, and I plan to (innocently) ask for an explanation as to just why Corn’s book is no longer available the next time I stop in. Which is often. It makes me wonder what else has just suddenly “disappeared.”

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Good for you to be on top of this. Threaten or alert someone to file a lawsuit against them,

to restore the former titles. Censorship in any fashion is ugly.

[AngryOldDem]

2. Basically, 7 people deciding for thousands what can be read.

There is another book about the KKK I’d like to read, “A Fever in the Heartland” by Timothy Egan. Library system doesn’t have it, and it’s not on order either. So, something else I won’t be able to check out apparently.

I’ve been noticing a steep decline in the selection of histories and biographies in the new nonfiction section for a few months now. It’s basically down to one shelf, with the rest cooking, baking, and lifestyle-type books. The place is undergoing renovations, so I just assumed they didn’t currently have the space to process new material.

Ha ha, joke’s on me.

I’m absolutely infuriated by this. Never thought I’d be living in a Christofascist state.

[BlackSkimmer]

3. Ask them what happened to it before jumping to conclusions.

Libraries do regularly clear their shelves of books that are not checked out.

You probably can even get a list of these books. Used to be called the MUSTY list, which was an anagram for something I've forgotten. That seems odd for a new book, but who knows.

[AngryOldDem]

4. The board was recently taken over by hard Right community members.

One, who runs a Christian school, was put on the board with no vote or community discussion. It’s shady, because a similar ideological group is now a majority on the school board as well, and is in the process of dismantling what used to be an excellent district.

It’s like Corn’s book was never in its inventory. Typically the website has “Material unavailable” or something like that.

I’ll check behind the building — maybe they put in a firepit.

[BlackSkimmer]

6. Have you looked on the shelf? Or just online using the catalog?

Just ask the librarian when you go in, but first check that it's not on the shelf.

[AngryOldDem]

9. Just there late last week, wasn't there, assumed it was checked out.

I place a lot of holds, so I use that feature a lot. If the book is not in the library, it’s either checked out, in transit between facilities, on order, missing, or unavailable. This book isn’t even listed among Corn’s other books.

I’m definitely going to ask the next time I’m there, which will probably be within the week.

[Walleye]

17. Down the memory hole

[BlackSkimmer]

37. Nope, the OP has done his library a disservice because it's still there.

And if you're really interested, it's available quite cheaply on eBay.

[Walleye]

40. That is good to know

[XanaDUer2]

20. Thank you

For suggesting this first

[BlackSkimmer]

38. And indeed, he found out that this was a wee tempest in his own teapot.

But it was a nice try!

A lot of people haven't the faintest ideas how libraries work.

I'd be willing to bet that less than 40% of DU even uses a library regularly. And I'm being generous with that number.

[intheflow]

27. 100% this!

I’m a librarian and we regularly get rid of new material when it is lost or damaged. I’ve deleted new book catalog records for everything from “My house burned down” to “The airline lost my luggage” to it smelling like cat pee. It’s not unusual.

That being said, if the poster lives in a red area with a hostile library board, a watchful vigilance is always advised.

[Nevilledog]

5. If you're on Twitter you should let Corn know

@DavidCornDC

[Joinfortmill]

7. So sick of these beasts

[SouthernDem4ever]

8. I wish someone would start a searchable database/website

Listing every title that has been banned is on the site and where it was banned and how to attain the publication.

[CrispyQ]

31. Climate change novels have been added to the list of offensive topics.

I read a story yesterday about a group in PA who challenged some book banners who wanted to take climate change novels off the shelves. The challengers won, but these people will try again & extend the list of topics the rest of us aren't allowed to read about.

[SouthernDem4ever]

76. Add them to the database!

It all needs to be tracked for truth.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Update

Called them and asked about it. They have it, but it’s in a database not searchable by the public. So, you have to know of the book to request it, rather than just searching for it yourself.

New one on me.

[planetc]

22. Well, is it a public library or not?

The entire concept of a "database not searchable by the public" is screwy. Public libraries are institutions whose very essence is making a wide variety of books available to the public. So the public doesn't have to go out and spend money to buy all the books they might want to read. Who or what decreed that some books should be unlisted, and some listed? What's the justification for this practice?

Incidentally, I just checked my public library's online catalogue for the Corn book, and put a hold on it.

[TwilightZone]

25. You might want to update your OP, as well.

People tend to respond without reading the comments, so noting in your OP that the book is still there would be helpful to some.

[intheflow]

32. That might mean it was returned damaged and is blocked from the catalog because

it’s being repaired. If it was returned so damaged they’re ordering another copy, they might block the record until they get a replacement. It could be lost in transit between locations, which happens all the time. Every library catalog database I’ve ever worked on in 15 years of library work has an option to block individual titles from the catalog search, expressly to keep public catalog searches limited to available material. These times demand vigilance, and also, this could easily be quite innocent.

[sakabatou]

36. "but it's in a database not searchable by the public."

The hell?

[BlackSkimmer]

41. I frequently ask my library about books.

that's what they're there for.

"...Have to know of the book to request it... How else would you know to request it?

Why didn't you ask when you didn't find it on the shelf?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Insist on an interlibrary loan. Keep upping their censorship ante until it is public

Sneaky censorship is worse than outright censorship.

Demand of the librarians what happened to the title. They probably hate the "trustees".

[AngryOldDem]

14. Actually, I'm probably going to get a Public Access Library Card

That would give me access to a metropolitan library nearby with a bigger catalog, with more recently published books. It costs $65/yr., but as much as I read it would pay for itself quick.

I’m glad the book is still available, but it should be readily accessible. Still does not sit right with me.

[planetc]

24. So you have to pay for the card. The Public Access Card.

This sounds like a poll tax for Black voters. In New York State, you get your library card by bringing in proof that you have a local address. No money changes hands, borrowing a book or five is free, and my local library has recently discontinued the use of late fees if you return the book after the due date. You must be living in a different state. A less enlightened one?

My local library is a member of a system of about 28 small libraries, so I can borrow from any of these libraries, and the book I request will be delivered to my local library and returned there. For the same free library card.

If you have any more time and energy to devote to this, consider asking for whatever justification they have for hiding library books from the public, and charging the public for access to books. If public funds support your library, tax payers are getting rooked.

[intheflow]

33. A lot of cities charge nonresidents for library cards.

It’s a bigger risk of materials going lost if they don’t live in town. Think about it: if you went on vacation but you forget to bring a book, do you really think NYPL or LAPL is going to give you a card and let you take out materials? Probably not, though they may offer limited digital cards to check out ebooks while you’re in town. That usually only happens in the really big cities, though.

[ProfessorGAC]

61. We Do It Here

There are three towns of around 6,000 in close proximity. Cards are free for residents of each respective township.
It's a nominal charge for non-residents. I think it's $15 per year.
But, since all three are part of the same transfer system I doubt many people buy the pass. Just wait 2 days and it'll get moved down the road.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Perhaps the book got damaged when some christian urinated on it. Could be innocent removal

due to "damage" ... but ...

Neither you nor I got off the turnip truck last Tuesday.

[Martin68]

13. Seems to me they may have broken the law if a book was removed without due process.

Good for you for following this up. Library censorship is a very serious issue.

[Wild blueberry]

15. While you find out what happened, be sure to support the librarians and library staff

Librarians generally support each reader's right to read what they want, ardently.
They also have to deal with the occasional asshole patron and sometimes wretched board members.
Librarians have our backs, we need to have theirs.

Former library worker

[AngryOldDem]

16. Oh, absolutely! I love the staff.

I once had a book on hold but it wasn’t on the holds shelf, and the librarian almost turned the place upside down looking for it. Needless to say, she found it.

I think on any kind of governing board you need to have a few members who are directly involved with the organization as employees, volunteers, etc. It gives perspective, and experience. This current board has neither.

I’m keeping my eye on this.

[BlackSkimmer]

42. Then why didn't you ask?

You said you were there, but yet, you wait and go search for it on some other database and can't find it, start an indignant OP, find out you were wrong, the book is there (somehow you found all this out today after posting your indignant OP), and still somehow you're not happy because you dislike the board?

Maybe deal with the board before you start all this nonsense with the library staff who work harder than you probably think.

[AngryOldDem]

45. My beef is not with the staff.

My beef is with a “secret” database that apparently can only be accessed by staff. I find it coincidental that the book was there, on the shelf, when I checked it out, and now it’s not, and the library is increasingly coming under the direction of people who don’t take kindly to critical examinations of history, especially when it comes from someone like David Corn.

I would have never have known about the book had I not seen it, nor would I have known if my library had a lot of other books if I hadn’t been able to do a website search.

A library’s catalog should be available to all, that is my point. I’m pretty certain the staff feels the same.

The “now it’s here, now it’s not” stuff is wrong. Pardon my indignance.

[XanaDUer2]

52. See if you can talk to technical services

I've never heard of a secret library database. Sometimes, public libraries have a search field of university libraries. Maybe the book was damaged and is in repair status.

Search oclc worldcat and see if it comes up in your library.

[AngryOldDem]

55. Yeah, I'm going to ask.

I’ll probably be there over the weekend, and I’ll ask a staff member.

[XanaDUer2]

57. Just remember the staff do NOT usually support bans

I would be calm and let them explain. A secret database sounds nuts. Did you talk to an actual librarian?

[BlackSkimmer]

58. Yes, I worked in technical services for a library for several years.

That's why this is so worrisome to me.

We never had a secret database, but now I'm going to email my bff who is still a librarian and see what she has to say!

No doubt she'll say something like, "BlackSkimmer, you aren't still reading that website you told me about are you?"

[XanaDUer2]

60. 37 yrs here

There never was any secret database. 20 yrs ago, there was a seperate terminal to search state-university library catalogs, but it wasn't "hidden"

[BlackSkimmer]

63. Well, I was in Florida. OP in Indiana.

Maybe Indiana has a super-secret library database? I really need to know this information lol!

What other books are they hiding?

Ok, now this is putting me in mind of Amy Poehler and the evil librarian on Parks and Recreation. Dying here.

[XanaDUer2]

64. I hope angryold got an actual librarian to ask

Maybe the staff mean Worldcat?

[BlackSkimmer]

74. I only know Hoopla and Libby.

What is this WorldCat of which you speak? Is it secret? Will I need a password?

[XanaDUer2]

75. No just google it

It's a giant catalog of many libraries' holdings. It can be used for interlibrary loans

[llmart]

71. In my library...

a library staff member cannot be on the library board. I'm' a retired library administrator and have worked in all areas of a public library and a law library. I've also been an adjunct library board member - one with no voting privileges. As someone else on here has already stated, most people don't make any effort to understand how a public library works or even uses their public library.

Is your library part of a library cooperative or has privileges through your state library? If your own library doesn't carry an item (smaller libraries can't afford to carry everything), then most of the time you can borrow it from another library in the state's system or the cooperative's system using your library card. Smaller libraries have limited budgets and librarians have to choose what they purchase.

In smaller towns it's often difficult to get anyone to be on the library board. Larger towns have elected board members. Some boards pay a nominal amount to board members; others do not. Your library board meetings are open to the public, so if you are really interested in "keeping an eye on them", attend a board meeting.

I think you're jumping to conclusions with this one.

[XanaDUer2]

19. Thank you nt

[jaxexpat]

18. These board of trustees Cretins don't read these books before banning them.

They get their "lists" from "sources" and those sources aren't investigated because its presumed they're all "good people". The legwork for this whole race toward medieval times is done by half assed, lazy SOB's who waltz through their petty little lives with a certainty found only in the most grossly uninformed. The hate mongers, the managers for the enterprise, count on them to spread the wholesale "wealth" of divisiveness they're peddling. It's the inbred gene pool of self-proclaimed "blue-blooded" trust fundamentalists who have decreed that the means to control and guide the unwashed is to guide their innate simian hate for each other onto progressiveness in any form. The game's afoot and their mischief is fully engaged. This, then, is their moment of greatest vulnerability.

The food chain may experience an unforced foul event, a sociological inversion in 2023-24.

[Marthe48]

23. I just discovered Internet Archive

Something like 6 million titles, formats from online reading, audio, and others.

It won't solve local censorship, but you might find the titles you want to read.

[calimary]

26. They do this because they believe they CAN.

They can be the boss of what you are allowed to read.

They can also be sued, I hope.

Are we gonna have to set up a Book Underground to keep these banned books available?

[BlackSkimmer]

46. But this didn't happen.

For some reason, AngryOldDem wants everyone else to be angry even if something didn't happen.

[ShazzieB]

28. Definitely ask about it!

You have the perfect present to bring it up innocently, so go for it. Good luck.

[ZonkerHarris]

29. Call your local paper, radio station and TV news depts and tell them.

[ShazzieB]

34. AngyOldDem should check with the library first.

It's important to make sure the book is gone due to actual censorship before reporting it as such.

There is more than one possible explanation, such as the book being stolen and the public catalog record being removed from the public catalog while they're waiting on a replacement.

Could this be a case of censorship? Of course, but AngryOldDem should find out the facts before publicizing it.

[BlackSkimmer]

43. AngryOldDem has a good user name. He did not take your advice.

AngryOldDem has since learned that the book is indeed safe in the library, but he has not changed his OP.

Shame on AngryOldDem.

[AngryOldDem]

47. I'm a she.

Do you not think books that “can” be checked out should be made available instead of being hidden away?

[BlackSkimmer]

48. Apologies, I'm also a she.

So the book is not on the shelf, but kept in a special room? Is that what you're saying?

What state do you live in because this is very odd.

[AngryOldDem]

50. I don't know where they keep this stuff.

It may be in a staff room, or back in the collections area. The staff member told me that I can request the book, they would get it, and hold it for me.

This is Indiana, where there has been a huge push toward library censorship to the point where the idea was floated that librarians should be criminally charged if they don’t take “offensive” material off the shelves. Fortunately, that idea died. The people who sit on the board are of this ilk, and shame on me for not being more aware of the board’s composition before now.

EDIT — I find it odd, too, which was why I posted. They have other Corn books listed as available, just not this one. It was easy for me to make the connection that the content was “objectionable” to somebody.

[BlackSkimmer]

54. This makes no sense to me at all. There are books kept that can't be checked out without

authorization, but I've never known of that at local libraries. That is normal at university libraries, or at least it was back in my day.

I have no idea of my local library board. The staff in the libraries are fantastic county-wide. I live in a red town in a red county, but our library system is excellent.

I wouldn't hesitate to express my concerns to my local library staff.

Why not ask them why all the trouble for this particular book? You say you have a good relationship with them, so just tell them your worries. Hey, get to the bottom of it and find out if this board has something to do with it.

And please let us know.

[AngryOldDem]

62. I plan to ask. Should be there this weekend.

And if I’m wrong, I’ll GLADLY eat a heaping-helping of crow.

The board is heavily Right leaning. One guy was appointed with no such appointment item on the agenda, and with no public discussion. Other candidates were not considered. This guy is very active in lobbying “religious rights” issues in the statehouse, and has no library or library science experience. None of the board does, as far as I know, which is why I said earlier that people who have the experience and are directly involved in the profession should have a seat on any board that sets policy.

I really want to read the Tim Egan book on the KKK, so that would be an excellent way to open the discussion.

[CrispyQ]

30. Climate change novels have been added to the list of offensive topics.

How did this takeover by extremists happen? Are these elected positions? Or are they city hires? Of do a few people get to select the trustees? I would try to get a list of other titles that have "disappeared" & get the word out with social media sites like FB, Twitter, & Nextdoor. Fuck these fascists!

Good luck!

[ShazzieB]

35. If you're asking about public library boards, it varies.

They are often elected, but in some localities, they are appointed. Where I live, they're appointed by the mayor.

I was a librarian for years, and in my experience, individual requests to remove books from a public libray are usually handled by library staff, following a written policy established by the board. In my experience, such requests were always reviewed and responded to in a courteous manner, but books were almost never removed without an extremely good reason. The complainant was notified of the decision, and if they weren't happy, they could appeal to the board (but I don't recall anyone ever doing so).

In theory, a city council or other governmental body could get involved with censoring books in public libraries, but I never saw or experienced that myself. School libraries are more likely to experience such outside attacks, but I never worked in a school library and have no personal experience with how they operate.

I worked in 2 different public libraries and 2 different university libraries. The librarians I worked with all considered themselves guardians of intellectual freedom. Collection development decisions in all of those libraries were never made lightly and always guided by written policies.

The university libraries I worked in were a different animal, and I never worked in a position that would have involved me in handling a request to remove a book, if any were even made. In an academic research library, censorship is (or should be) an alien concept. Materials are added to the collection because they support the university's curriculum and its mission of supporting scholarly research. Such libraries are bound to contain things that the narrow-minded or ill-informed would find objectionable, but those people rarely stick their nose in the door of such an institution. Or at least they didn't used to, until state governments like Florida's started going batshit, foaming at the mouth crazy!

Discaimer: All of my library experience was a long time ago and some of it may therefore notbe 100% currently applicable.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

39. So having read this whole thread, what you're saying is that it wasn't actually censorship?

[BlackSkimmer]

44. Omg...sometimes you just nail it! Thank you!

Nope. No censorship lol.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

53. "Threaten a lawsuit," Jesus Christ.

[AngryOldDem]

49. If you go looking for it, and the library indicates they don't have it...

….would you assume they do have it? I’ve been going there for years and this is the first time I’ve heard of this.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

51. If I had found a book on the shelf, and then later decided to look for it through the library's

search tool and it wasn't listed, I'd assume that there was a disconnect between the physical reality of what's inside the library's walls and what was listed online -- the book hadn't been added to the search database, it was on loan from another branch/system and so wasn't included in my library's database, it hadn't been checked out enough to merit continued inclusion, whatever.

[XanaDUer2]

56. This nt

[BlackSkimmer]

59. What is amazing to me is that so many believe the virtual world (the internet)

rather than believe their own eyes.

I see it with the twitter gullibles here; they believe anything they see there.

Quite frightening really.

[Chernevog]

67. You've obviously Never been a director of a library.

This happens constantly because a lot of the time the scanning equipment is not working properly and when somebody in the public returns a book it doesn't get scanned in as returned so the computer database is going to indicate that it is still checked out. If it remains this way for 6 months or a year they remove it from the card catalog even though the book is sitting on the shelf somewhere. Often it's not even in the right place because the public runs around taking a book off of the shelf and then putting it in another place where it's not supposed to be. To be honest one of the reasons that I don't work for libraries anymore is Is my experience is that in general the public sucks. They are terrible people who make assumptions that they should not make and they're just almost always absolutely nasty

[Chernevog]

65. Where do you get these ideas???

I was a director for several libraries of different sizes in a very large state. What you're saying doesn't happen. What happens is they buy equipment that is so cheap to scan books back in when they've been checked back in that the books are actually not checked in... They end up being put back on the shelf however the catalog is going to read that the book is still checked out...

If it remains in that status for long enough what happens is they remove it from the catalog as a missing book. This has nothing to do with any insidious plan to keep liberal books off of the shelf It's the result of local governments buying the cheapest crappiest equipment humanly possible and a lot of the times even when you scan the book it ends up not being checked back in

I've directed several small libraries I was 2nd in charge of the 2nd largest regional in my county and I was in charge of one of the largest departments in the main library. I know exactly what I'm talking about and if you are not a librarian you don't know anything about this therefore you shouldn't speak about what you don't know about

[XanaDUer2]

66. Can you ask if it's moved to eBook format?

Maybe the staff mean Libby? You'll find out once you talk to a librarian

[Chernevog]

68. Then you have the members of the public who actually

Arrange to keep constantly checking out books they don't want on the shelf because they disapprove of them. I've had to deal with members of the public like this they pretty much keep checking out the books between them itself and their friends. It becomes impossible for the book to be available at that point.

[XanaDUer2]

69. Absolutely

We had a parent hiding books from a display a few years ago.

[FakeNoose]

70. If the book is gone from the library, maybe it was stolen

I wouldn't assume it's library censorship, when light thievery could well be the reason.

Yes "American Psychosis" is very informative and I learned a lot from reading it. However I reached "Repuke burnout" stage which is probably why David Corn wrote the book. The slow-burn of one's disgust with the nasty, evils misdeeds of our fellow Americans is definitely the point of the book.

It will be a long time before I pick up another book like "American Psychosis."

[XanaDUer2]

72. Due to lack of shelf space, we were moving

From hardcopy to eBook format. Yes, it's a good idea to not assume something nefarious right off the bat. Library staff already have a lot to deal with

[Chernevog]

73. Next

Not everybody working in a library is a librarian. If you went out to the check out desk you didn't get a librarian you got a clerk or even lower level in the governmental hiring process usually a page...

Usually about 15 to 20% of the staff in a public library are actually professional librarians. The rest of the time they are usually para professional or clerical staff...

One of the reasons I finally left the civil service was because of people like you who make assumptions about the public libraries that are not based on anything related to their own experience working in 1. I decided that the public didn't deserve my talents because they are in general overwhelmingly ignorant about the way libraries work. Doesn't matter whether they are liberal or conservative they're all ignorant about the way libraries work I decided to get out because I was tired of it